The women's tennis team extended its winning streak to three matches on Wednesday as No. 27 Tufts handily upset the No. 12 Wellesley Blue 8-1 in Wellesley, Mass.
With the victory, the Jumbos conclude the regular season with a 9-7 record. They look to continue their winning ways against No. 23 Bowdoin in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament today, hosted at Williams. The win over the Blue also all but cemented a slot in the NCAA Regional Tournament on May 6.
"We played very much in the moment, and each player took ownership of her individual matches in singles and doubles," coach Kate Bayard said.
"Everyone just played so well," senior captain Becky Bram said. "I knew that [Wellesley was] a team we would beat, but I didn't quite predict that it would be by an 8-1 score. We had a whole lot of confidence and a lot of teams are going to be intimidated by that score, not just the fact that we won."
At No. 1 doubles, Bram and junior Jennifer Luten captured a big tiebreaker win over Wellesley sophomores Jenna Mezin and Hali Walther, 9-8 (4). Playing from No. 3, Tufts sophomore Andrea Cenko and freshman Mari Homma picked up another narrow victory over Blue junior Hana Freymiller and freshman Jane Booth-Tobin, 9-7.
"I knew this would be a close match, regardless of the final outcome," Bayard said. "In order to beat Wellesley, we knew we would have to win and take some risks. I was proud of our aggressiveness in doubles, even during big points. We've gained a lot of confidence in our doubles over the last few matches."
The singles lineup remained perfect for its second consecutive match. At No. 1, Luten pulled off a comeback against Mezin, winning 1-6, 7-6, 10-7. Playing at the No. 2 position, Bram crushed Wellesley sophomore Trish Devine, 6-1, 6-0. Tufts junior Stephanie Ruley, competing at No. 3, dropped the second set to Blue freshman Jen Schwarzkopf after winning the first, but she returned to form in the third set to secure the victory, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
At No. 4, junior Kylyn Deary, who writes for the Daily sports department, downed Walther 6-4, 6-2, followed by Tufts junior Silvia Schmid's three-set win over Freymiller, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 10-7, at fifth singles. To round out the singles lineup, freshman Jessica Knez rebounded against Wellesley freshman Alex Lucas after losing the first set to pick up the win, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Overall, the Jumbos won four of their six singles matches in three sets.
"That's all mental toughness right there," Bram said. "You have to know that you're going to win in order to win those close matches. We were more mentally tough out there than Wellesley, and that's what won it for us ultimately."
"Our patience in singles continues to get stronger as we go," Bayard said. "Today we made a breakthrough in mental toughness. Everyone on the team did a nice job of staying positive and focused on the court. It's a good sign when all the players look like they're winning from four courts away, even if they're down in a match."
Tufts' only loss came from No. 2 doubles, where Ruley and Deary fell to Devine and Schwarzkopf, 8-4.
Although the squad had a rough start to the season, dropping five of its first six matches, it finished on a three-game win streak heading into this weekend's NESCAC Tournament.
"We did start off a little rocky," Bram said. "We had some really tough matches, but we've improved everything all around from our doubles through our singles. I would love to match up against [some of the teams we lost to] again because I think we wouldn't have the same result."
The tournament will feature a change in format from previous years, with only the top six teams in the conference receiving bids to compete. The Jumbos obtained a No. 5 seed, and will play the fourth-seeded Bowdoin Polar Bears. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, Amherst and Williams, secured first-round byes. Seeded third, Middlebury will play No. 6 Connecticut College.
The Jumbos hope to exact revenge over a Bowdoin team that defeated Tufts earlier this year.
"Bowdoin beat us 6-3 in the fall, so we're excited to get another chance to play them," Bayard said. "The team feels ready for the tournament, and we plan on riding the momentum from our big win [on Wednesday]."
